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"No calorie-counting needed, just "eat intuitively" folks!"
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People who maintain a their weight by "eating intuitively" shouldn't need to lose weight. If they need to lose weight then clearly "eating intuitively" did not result in them maintaining at a healthy weight. I just feel like this is obvious unless I am missing something.28
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I don't really know what "intuitive eating" is other than a buzz word...but I haven't logged in 5+ years.4
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I don’t have a problem with the statements. But a lot of people who wind up dieting don’t know how to eat instinctively so it won’t work absent a tool that helps them learn. She is also correct in that a mostly plant based diet allows for increased volumes with far fewer calories. For example, a plateful of spinach vs a couple of crackers.1
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I mean, in a perfect world, yeah we'd all eat "intuitively", listening to our bodies tell us when and how much to eat.
But the world I live in is several light years from perfect, so I keep logging. Loosely sometimes, hardcore other times. Hopefully someday I'll get to the point where I don't need to, but I don't really think it's a big deal if I have to do it in perpetuity.
And ironically, IMHO I think for people who are overweight and have never paid serious attention to their diets, calorie counting and consistent logging is probably a necessity (or at least the best way) for them to get back to being able to eat intuitively. Kind of like relearning how to eat. Not sure why some people have to paint them as two opposing concepts <shrugs>11 -
Honestly telling an overweight person that all they need to do to get to a healthy weight is to "eat intuitively" is like telling a person suffering from chronic depression that all they need to do is "cheer up". It is absurdly reductionist and not helpful.54
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is there a difference between eat mindfully and eat intuitively? (the former being the one I saw in the initial paragraph posted)
to me, there is a difference - mindful is being aware of how different foods make me feel; what leaves me hungry, what makes me feel full etc
eating intuitively is the whole eating until you are full/satisfied mindset5 -
deannalfisher wrote: »is there a difference between eat mindfully and eat intuitively? (the former being the one I saw in the initial paragraph posted)
to me, there is a difference - mindful is being aware of how different foods make me feel; what leaves me hungry, what makes me feel full etc
eating intuitively is the whole eating until you are full/satisfied mindset
If I ate until I was satisfied, that would be a half gallon of Southern Butter Pecan ice cream every other day. That's 3200 calories that I really don't need and which would definitely crowd out my eggs, salads, grains, steamed vegetables, fish, chicken etc.
My off switch is broken with certain foods, for real.10 -
cmriverside wrote: »deannalfisher wrote: »is there a difference between eat mindfully and eat intuitively? (the former being the one I saw in the initial paragraph posted)
to me, there is a difference - mindful is being aware of how different foods make me feel; what leaves me hungry, what makes me feel full etc
eating intuitively is the whole eating until you are full/satisfied mindset
If I ate until I was satisfied, that would be a half gallon of Southern Butter Pecan ice cream every other day. That's 3200 calories that I really don't need and which would definitely crowd out my eggs, salads, grains, steamed vegetables, fish, chicken etc.
My off switch is broken with certain foods, for real.
I'm the same way. I think it's because I eat so fast that I can eat so much food before feeling full. Therefore, I log everything daily. On most days, I am able to eat exactly what I pre-log. Some days, I go completely over. But I make sure to adjust intake to average to my maintenance over a 30 day period. Neither my mom nor my sister can eat much at one time. They rarely ever empty their plates. That's a foreign concept for me.
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I was an intuitive eater and maintained a healthy weight and peak physical performance...
...right up the point I didn't.
There is nothing intuitive about eating. Like balancing a checkbook, managing widgets, or any other process successful management requires knowledge about the debits, credits, and influencing factors involved in that process.
I'm not sabotaging my finances by setting goals and making sure I have a strategy and tactics to attain those goals. Likewise I'm not sabotaging my health by setting goals and ensuring my caloric intake is adequate to meet those goals.10 -
PiperGirl08 wrote: »I don’t have a problem with the statements. But a lot of people who wind up dieting don’t know how to eat instinctively so it won’t work absent a tool that helps them learn. She is also correct in that a mostly plant based diet allows for increased volumes with far fewer calories. For example, a plateful of spinach vs a couple of crackers.
You do know that grains are plants, right?12 -
concordancia wrote: »PiperGirl08 wrote: »I don’t have a problem with the statements. But a lot of people who wind up dieting don’t know how to eat instinctively so it won’t work absent a tool that helps them learn. She is also correct in that a mostly plant based diet allows for increased volumes with far fewer calories. For example, a plateful of spinach vs a couple of crackers.
You do know that grains are plants, right?
Maybe they were animal crackers.29 -
concordancia wrote: »PiperGirl08 wrote: »I don’t have a problem with the statements. But a lot of people who wind up dieting don’t know how to eat instinctively so it won’t work absent a tool that helps them learn. She is also correct in that a mostly plant based diet allows for increased volumes with far fewer calories. For example, a plateful of spinach vs a couple of crackers.
You do know that grains are plants, right?
Maybe they're referring to Chicken in a Biskit crackers, those famous meaty cracker treats unsuitable for vegans.
Because otherwise, yeah, this doesn't really make sense.8 -
concordancia wrote: »PiperGirl08 wrote: »I don’t have a problem with the statements. But a lot of people who wind up dieting don’t know how to eat instinctively so it won’t work absent a tool that helps them learn. She is also correct in that a mostly plant based diet allows for increased volumes with far fewer calories. For example, a plateful of spinach vs a couple of crackers.
You do know that grains are plants, right?
The 350 calorie bagel I just ate has an ingredient list mostly from plants. Still packs a calorie punch though! I eat a mostly plant based diet and I can very easily go over on calories if I'm not intentional about my calorie intake. Beans, potatoes (sweet, russet etc), corn, nuts, nut butters, rice, oats, dried fruit etc etc etc. All plant based. All very easy to eat in large calorie quantities. The 'ants on a log' snack I made last night (celery sticks, peanut butter and raisins) came in at around 500 calories. I could have had a lot of chicken or fish for that. Heck, I could have had a pint of Halo Top for that, with calories to spare
The 'magic' of plant based diets are pretty overrated, in my experience. 17 -
PiperGirl08 wrote: »I don’t have a problem with the statements. But a lot of people who wind up dieting don’t know how to eat instinctively so it won’t work absent a tool that helps them learn. She is also correct in that a mostly plant based diet allows for increased volumes with far fewer calories. For example, a plateful of spinach vs a couple of crackers.
Only if you're talking strictly veg...which would be extremely boring and unsatisfying.
I tried a predominately plant based approach a couple of years ago as an experiment and I was eating higher calorie than I was just throwing some meat, poultry, or fish on the grill and serving it up with a side of veg and a starch or grain. My various lentil stews were awesome, but as a main course they were calorie bombs...not so bad as a side item. I also quite enjoy avocados and nuts, as well as root vegetables, etc.
There are a lot of calorie dense plant foods.6 -
MerryMavis1 wrote: »concordancia wrote: »PiperGirl08 wrote: »I don’t have a problem with the statements. But a lot of people who wind up dieting don’t know how to eat instinctively so it won’t work absent a tool that helps them learn. She is also correct in that a mostly plant based diet allows for increased volumes with far fewer calories. For example, a plateful of spinach vs a couple of crackers.
You do know that grains are plants, right?
The 350 calorie bagel I just ate has an ingredient list mostly from plants. Still packs a calorie punch though! I eat a mostly plant based diet and I can very easily go over on calories if I'm not intentional about my calorie intake. Beans, potatoes (sweet, russet etc), corn, nuts, nut butters, rice, oats, dried fruit etc etc etc. All plant based. All very easy to eat in large calorie quantities. The 'ants on a log' snack I made last night (celery sticks, peanut butter and raisins) came in at around 500 calories. I could have had a lot of chicken or fish for that. Heck, I could have had a pint of Halo Top for that, with calories to spare The 'magic' of plant based diets are pretty overrated, in my experience.
I only eat plants. I wish there was magic, but there isn't. Yeah, we've got spinach. But we've also got bagels, potatoes, nuts, avocados, nuts, chocolate, coconuts, all the grains, and all sorts of other delicious calorie-dense foods over here.8 -
It sounds interesting, this eating intuitively thing, but for me it's not time yet, I am aware now tho, of when I am actually hungry or it's just boredom, frustration etc, but I don't think I'm quite there yet.
Maybe once I hit maintenance I would give it a try, but I would most likely at least use cups to measure, I don't know.
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Aaron_K123 wrote: »Honestly telling an overweight person that all they need to do to get to a healthy weight is to "eat intuitively" is like telling a person suffering from chronic depression that all they need to do is "cheer up". It is absurdly reductionist and not helpful.
This. There are for sure people who can be very successful with intuitive eating, but those are most likely the same people who are generally considered "naturally thin" because they are already particularly adept at recognizing when they are really hungry and when they've had enough. Telling someone who struggles with recognizing those signs to pay attention is not helpful. I'm generally pretty good at recognizing how much I should eat (thanks to years of MFP) but send me to a really good all you can eat buffet, and I promise you if I don't have a set limit in my head when I arrive, then I'm walking out in physical pain from over-eating.9 -
For me I'm a mix of the two. I've been tracking my calories but I'm actually thinking of stopping. However, what I do eat is very healthy. I like eating healthy, whole, clean foods because that food actually makes me feel soooo much better. I have energy and I'm happy. I just feel good. Whenever I eat crap food (even if it's within my recommended calories) I feel like crap. I'm sluggish and I have a bad mood. This is just what works for me.10
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I eat intuitively, I gain. I spend intuitively, credit card debt.
My drug of choice seems to be "more" 11 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »concordancia wrote: »PiperGirl08 wrote: »I don’t have a problem with the statements. But a lot of people who wind up dieting don’t know how to eat instinctively so it won’t work absent a tool that helps them learn. She is also correct in that a mostly plant based diet allows for increased volumes with far fewer calories. For example, a plateful of spinach vs a couple of crackers.
You do know that grains are plants, right?
Maybe they were animal crackers.
You people....arguing with scientists and what not. *disapproving head shake* If you keep that up...
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